2l6 



TRANSPORT QUESTIONS 



cleansing of the asphalte offers no difficulty, and is 

 mainly a question of extra labour ; but on the timber 

 portion (which the dealers prefer to the asphalte) the 

 spilled milk soaks into ths wood, turns sour, and in 

 course of time gives rise to an odour that is far from 

 pleasant. 



There is, I find, a general impression among milk- 

 producers and milk-dealers that the railway companies 

 make a considerable profit out of the milk traffic, simply 

 because it has assumed such substantial dimensions 

 since the days when it represented nothing more than 

 the putting of a milk-can into the guard's van of a 

 train at a country station. It is interesting in this 

 connection to compare the receipts for an average 

 truckload of milk, conveyed by passenger train or 

 special train, with the receipts from a truck of coal, as 

 shown approximately by the following examples : 



Setting against the receipts (i) the cost of running 

 special milk trains, (2) the interest on capital expendi- 

 ture in respect to the accommodation set apart for the 

 traffic, (3) the extra wear and tear, and (4) the amount 

 of the working expenses generally, the conclusion 

 arrived at by several railway officers who have gone 



